Through nine games, Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren is turning in performances that place him among the Eastern Conference’s elite big men, and he’s making a strong case to land on his first All-Star team this season.

Amid Detroit’s charge to first place in the East, Duren has been an integral piece to the Pistons’ ascension. Now in his fourth season, Duren has established a prolific connection with star guard Cade Cunningham, and it’s led to a flurry of lobs and slam dunks in quite literally every Pistons game this season. 

Standing at 6-10 and 250 pounds, Duren has turned his game up a notch during Detroit’s five-game winning streak. In that timespan, Duren is averaging 24 points and 13 rebounds per game at a 68% field goal rate, so he’s efficiently contributing to the Pistons’ offense at a high level. 

During the offseason, Duren dedicated himself to working on his jump shot with Pistons assistant coach Fred Vinson, but the Memphis product has not needed to showcase that element of his game too often given the ample looks he’s been seeing at the rim. Detroit scores more points in the paint than any other team in the NBA– which is reinforced by the Pistons’ 80 points down low against the Nets on Friday– and Duren has been able to live at the rim as of late.

Working with Cunningham in the pick and roll, Duren has grown more than comfortable operating at the top of the key. When controlling the rock from the target position, Duren has even added a dribble-drive facet to his game that should only serve to help him unlock more scoring opportunities going forward. 

“It’s tough to guard, right?” Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of the Cade-to-JD connection after Detroit’s win over the Nets. “They’ve proven that. The chemistry that they’ve developed in that, the skill set of both of them, both of their ability to playmake, both of their ability to score. And I think they do a great job of reading the defense and finding the gaps.”

Pistons Claim Top Seed In East As Duren And Cade Both Drop 30+ The Detroit Pistons won their fifth consecutive game in tonight’s 18-point victory over the Nets

To underscore Duren’s importance to Detroit’s success this season, the Pistons are undefeated in games in which JD scores at least 20 points, and he’s already logged five double-doubles in the 2025-26 campaign. 

Next up, the Detroit Pistons are scheduled to play the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 pm. On paper, that matchup would be a perfect opportunity for Duren to test his All-star viability against one of the game’s top centers in Joel Embiid, but Philadelphia will be on the second leg of a back-to-back when facing the Pistons so it is unlikely that Embiid will suit up. 

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Either way, Duren will have one more opportunity this week to prove why his name should be heavily considered when it comes time to select the All-Star team for the Eastern Conference, a squad in which Cunningham should be joining him on.

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